The Netherlands Gaming Authority has imposed a €450,000 penalty on Optdeck Service, operator of the Unibet brand in the Netherlands.
The penalty relates to unauthorised football bets that were offered on Unibet.nl between October 2022 and May 2025, specifically bets on matches involving players under the age of 21 and bets on corner kicks and yellow cards.
These included the under-21s match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton in October 2023, and the under-21 match between Sunderland and Bristol City in February 2024, with a total of 214 under-21 matches available for betting.
Unibet.nl confirmed in December 2024 that it had identified and withdrawn all prohibited bets, before being found to have offered bets on both corner kicks and cards in the match between Chelsea and Manchester United on 15 May of this year.
The penalty was handed down 19 August and made public on 2 September.
The Netherlands gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), said that it has addressed the issue of Unibet’s betting options several times in the past.
“The KSA sees insufficient improvement and a real chance of repetition,” the regulator added. “According to Dutch gambling legislation, it is not allowed to organise bets on certain matches and competition components. This is to protect the integrity of the sport and to prevent manipulation of these sports bets.”
The KSA estimates that Unibet generated revenue of approximately €300,000 from the prohibited bets, with the maximum penalty of €450,000 representing 1.5x this amount.
The penalty of €75,000 per week is payable if Unibet fails to withdraw the offending bets within three weeks of the penalty order, or in the event of a repeat violation.